History of Colorado; Volume IV, Part 36

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 836

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MR. AND MRS. JASPER D. BABCOCK

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the position until 1915. He is now serving as justice of the peace but otherwise has retired from active business. He has been a great enthusiast over trap shooting and was president of the Denver Shooting Club. He has a beautiful medal for being the best shot in the club. awarded him in 1876. , He has been a great hunter and fisherman and has greatly enjoyed all forms of outdoor life.

On the 10th of November, 1866, Mr. Babcock was united in marriage at Mound City, Illinois, to Miss Lizzie Cecelia Tibbs, who was born in Deerfield, Ohio, but was educated and reared at Mound City, Illinois. The children of this marriage are: Mary, the deceased wife of William Tudor: Lizzie C., who is the wife of John Kirby and is manager for the telephone company in this district; J. Dwight, a ranchman and cattle raiser of Routt county; and William A., who is engaged in the same line of business in Eagle county. In November, 1916, Mr. and Mrs. Babcock celebrated their golden wedding. There was a wonderful surprise charivari and almost the entire town turned out. The Episcopal wedding ceremony was read over again by the minister as it had been fifty years before and the occasion was made one of great interest and delight to all who participated therein. The companionship of Mr. and Mrs. Babcock has grown all the closer as the long years have passed and they have shared together the joys and sorrows. the adversity and prosperity that checker the careers of all. The love which they bear each other has been the redeeming feature that has compensated for all earthly trials and hardships and they are certainly fortunate in that they have been permitted to go down the western slope of life thus far together. Their religious faith is that of the Christian Science church. In politics Mr. Babcock is a republican and fraternally is a Mason, having been initiated into the order, in the early '70s, in Fidelity Lodge, No. 152, at Fidelity, Illinois. He is also a Knight of Pythias and an Odd Fellow. He also has membership in T. H. Dodd Post, G. A. R., of Golden, and thus maintains pleasant relations with his old army com- rades. In days of peace, as in days of war, he has ever been a true and loyal American citizen, as faithful to his country as when he followed the nation's starry banner on the battlefields of the south.

FRED L. PADDELFORD.

Fred L. Paddelford, for sixteen years superintendent of the State Industrial School at Golden, was born on a farm in Henry county, Illinois, January 24, 1867, a son of James H. and Rachel D. (Hanna) Paddelford. In the paternal line the ancestry is traced back to the colonial period and the mother of James H. Paddelford passed away at the notable old age of ninety-three years. She had attended the funeral of George Washington. In the maternal line the family comes of Scotch-Irish ancestry.

Fred L. Paddelford was educated in the public and high schools of Illinois and in 1888, when twenty-one years of age, was a teacher in the Illinois State School for Boys at Pontiac, with which he was connected until 1891. He afterward read law in Lincoln, Nebraska, and was admitted to the bar in 1893. Subsequently he returned to the State School at Pontiac, with which he remained until the Spanish-American war broke out, at which time he joined the Third Nebraska Infantry.

After the war Mr. Paddelford took up ranching in Wyoming but in 1900 came to Golden, taking up work as a teacher in the State Industrial School. His previous experience along that line was of great benefit to him and recognition of his worth and ability came in his appointment in 1902 to the superintendency of the school, in which position he has now been retained for more than sixteen years. He is today one of the noted educators of the country in his particular branch. He has accom- plished wonders with the boys by being a companion to them and calling forth the best in them. He has studied boy nature, knows their temptations and their possi- bilities and conducts his work along constructive lines. He is an athlete of note, in the state, and is still pitcher on the school baseball team and in the summer of 1918 struck out eighteen men in one game. This naturally gives him a strong hold upon the boys and he soon wins their confidence and love. Hardly a day passes but one of his old graduates comes to visit him and the institution under his supervision has become one of the finest in the country. Notable improvements have been carried on during the sixteen years of Mr. Paddelford's connection with the school. The acreage has been increased from fifty-eight to four hundred and sixty-five acres and the lawns have been trebled in size. Two cottages have been crected, also a gymnasium. a kitchen, dining room, bakery and chapel. Two barns have been completed, the school forces doing all the work thereon, and an addition to the hospital has been erected

FRED L. PADDELFORD

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from concrete blocks made by the boys, who have also done all the other work. All the toilet rooms have been furnished with enameled wainscoting and tiled floors. All of the cement walks now in use have been laid except the one from the main drive to the old main building. A fountain basin has been constructed and the road paved for traffic and pedestrians from the grounds to the depot. A florist has been employed and the grounds have been greatly beautified. Considerable equipment has been placed on the playgrounds, a one hundred foot flagpole has been erected and the flag is always kept flying. There has been an addition built to the print shop, through the labor of the boys, machinery has been installed in the shoe shop and the car- penter shop, with additional equipment in the machine, print and laundry shops. Brick pavement has been laid all about the dining room building and the school has recognized the value of refining influences, to which end white napkins and white tablecloths are in use at every meal in the boys' dining rooms, while silverware and china dishes have been substituted for ironware and enameled dishes. The variety and attractiveness of the food has been greatly increased and boys are permitted to talk in the dining room. Toothbrushes and powder are furnished all boys and every effort has been made to produce a desire for that physical cleanliness which is always a part of moral and cultural development. One of the improved features of the farm has been the introduction of pedigreed cattle, horses and hogs, the calves raised sell- ing as high as four hundred dollars each. A silo of five hundred tons capacity has been erected. Thirteen hundred cherry trees have been planted on land above ditch and irrigated from a big well of eight hundred thousand gallons which has been put in, furnishing enough water for all domestic purposes and to some extent for irriga- tion. Hundreds of rods of woven wire fence have been put up, a refrigerating and ice plant has been erected. Concrete hotbeds have been constructed and beds in the greenhouse have been made of concrete. The greenhouse supplies all flowers for tables, chapel, schoolrooms, etc. Great indeed have been the improvements made in the sys- tem of instruction. Instruction is given on alternate days, the intervening days being devoted to work of various kinds upon the farm. Corporal punishment has been almost entirely abolished. There are three male teachers for the higher grades, two female teachers for the lower grades and there are also special teachers employed for instruction in various branches of work, including the machinist's trade. The boys are given religious instruction; Catholic boys are taught separately in their Sunday school, while arrangements have been made for the Jewish boys to have instruction in their religion given by volunteer teachers from Denver. There is a well organized band of thirty-eight pieces, which furnishes music for all chapel exer- cises and entertainment. The military organization has been perfected and modernized and a fine silk flag has been won for "being the best drilled military organization in line on July 4, 1911," in Denver. Five purple championship ribbons and prizes have been taken on live stock at the Western Stock Show besides numerous first and second premiums won there and at the State Fair. Lecture and entertainment courses have been greatly extended and basketball, football and baseball games are regularly scheduled and played with high school and other outside teams. The school is con- ducted along the most humanitarian lines, that the boys may be fitted physically, mentally and morally to become good citizens and a large percentage-more than ninety per cent-finally make good.

In April, 1917, Mr. Paddelford was married to Dr. Esther S. Cherry, a musician of note, who was musical critic on Denver papers and at the time of her marriage was the first vice president of the Denver Woman's Club. The influence of both Mr. and Mrs. Paddelford has been along cultural lines and their work of a construc- tive character. That Mr. Paddelford is a man of keen sagacity and of deep sympathy and human interest is shadowed forth between the lines of this review and his work has gained him well deserved prominence in this connection.

E. PORTER SMITH.

E. Porter Smith, of Arvada, Colorado, who is now living retired, has been a suc- cessful agriculturist, having acquired a competence as the result of his industrious life's labors. He is a native of Harmony, Maine, and was born March 3, 1845, a son of Samuel and Lucy ( Bates) Smith. When he was three years of age the family removed to Bloomington, Illinois, but when he was six years old left there, for Boston, Massachusetts. In that city he remained for two years, when removal was made to Lawrence, Kansas. The father was a drummer in John Brown's Company and E. Porter

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Smith of this review was in the Indian troubles upon the Kansas frontier. Later he served two years with Company M, of the Eleventh Kansas Cavalry, being in Price's raid in 1864, and he was out on the plains when Lee surrendered. He then came to Colorado, finding work in the Georgetown mines, and after having saved sufficient money acquired one hundred and sixty acres of land near Broomfield, to the success- ful cultivation of which he devoted his time and attention until several years ago, when he retired, selling out at that time. In his farming methods he was progressive and made many improvements upon his place, creating out of a wilderness a valuable farming property. He thus acquired a competence which now permits him to rest from further labor. In his early days he assisted in building the Colorado & Southern Railroad, working on the grade work.

On September 30, 1870, Mr. Smith was married in Arvada to Miss Mary Graves, a daughter of Oliver and Lucy (Story) Graves, natives of Vermont and Ohio respec- tively. Their daughter Mary was born in Bloomington, Illinois, and came with her parents to Colorado in 1860, where they settled in the mountains between Golden and Central. Her father engaged in farming, along which line he was successful, and also built the toll road between Grey Hill and Smith's Hill. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith eleven children were born: Oliver, who is located near Broomfield; George S .; Frank; Winnie, who is now Mrs. William Schulz and resides near Griffith; Nettie, the wife of Ernest N. Carne; Harry, of Broomfield; Ada, the wife of H. Metzger, of Cleveland, Ohio; Myrtle, who is Mrs. Theodore Schoppe; Homer; Alfred, who is now in France with Company F, Fourth United States Infantry; and Mary L., who married David Landry of Colorado Springs.

E. Porter Smith is a republican in his political views and has always supported the men and measures of that party. He is deeply interested in public progress and by developing a fine farm property has contributed toward the agricultural upbuilding of his state. Moreover, he is ever ready to give aid to movements of a public nature which have for their purpose the benefit of the public and he is highly esteemed in his community, where he has made many friends, being numbered among its pioneers. His religious faith is that of the Methodist church and he is interested in its work and its allied institutions. All who know him speak of him in the highest terms and whatever success has come to him is attributable to his own efforts, so that he can be truly called a self-made man.

GEORGE W. HIXSON.

George W. Hixson is the owner of one of the finest farm properties not only of Elbert county but of this section of the state. A beautiful residence, large and sub- stantial barns and sheds and every equipment of the model farm are found upon his place. His entire life has been devoted to agricultural pursuits. He was born upon a farm near Hillsboro, Iowa, March 21, 1857, a son of David and Phoebe (Sayers) Hixson. The Hixson family removed from Kentucky to Iowa, three generations living in the latter state. Their ancestral line in America dates back to the colonial period. On the paternal and maternal sides the family comes from Ohio.

In 1898 George W. Hixson arrived in Colorado and homesteaded on the site of his present farm, securing a tract of land which constituted the nucleus of his present extensive possessions, covering twenty-four hundred acres. He is carrying on his opera- tions in a partnership connection under the firm style of Geo. W. Hixson and Sons. They make a specialty of feeding beef cattle and raising shorthorns and Poland China hogs. Theirs is the only beef feeding and cattle finishing point in this section of Colorado, the firm becoming pioneers in this line. They have so developed their inter- ests that the farm is regarded as one of the show places in their section of the state. They have model barns and two hig silos, together with every equipment necessary for the care of stock and of grain.

Mr. Hixson was married in Iowa on the 14th of March, 1883, to Miss Lizzie Enders- by, who comes of English ancestry. They are parents of three sons and a daughter. One of the sons, Bryan W., has enlisted at the Fort Collins Agricultural College. The other sons are: Loren B., who is at home; and B. Rex, who is married. The daughter, Verna May, is also under the parental roof.

The career of George W. Hixson is one of marked progress. He is a man of keen sagacity, farsighted and enterprising, and has been actuated at all times by a laudable ambition that has ever prompted him to take a forward step when the way was open. His life record indicates the fact that activity does not tire but gives resistance and

THE GEORGE W. HIXSON & SONS RANCH, SIMLA, ELBERT COUNTY

MR. AND MRS. GEORGE W. HIXSON From a photo taken in 1884

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that power grows through the exercise of effort. He is today a strong and resourceful man, strong in his honor and good name, strong in his ability to plan and perform. Carlyle has said : "Obstacles in the path of the weak often become stepping-stones to the strong," which statement finds verification in the life record of George W. Hixson.

CHARLES VOEGTLE.

Charles Voegtle, who passed away on the 27th of September, 1917, was closely associated with the business interests of Boulder, where for a long period he was active in the real estate field. He was born in Baden, Germany, June 7, 1841, a son of Anton and Frances (Friedrich) Voegtle, whose family numbered eight children, five sons and three daughters. The father was a farmer and keeper of vineyards in Germany and never came to the new world.

The son crossed the Atlantic to America in 1865 and made his way direct to Quincy, Illinois, where he secured a position in the Dick Brothers Brewery. There he advanced rapidly by reason of his adaptability and faithfulness. He remained in that position until 1875, when, attracted by the opportunities of the growing west, he removed to Boulder, Colorado, where he began business on his own account, building a brewery which was operated under the firm style of Weisenhorn & Voegtle. He was thus active until 1884, when he sold his interest to his partner, and from that time he gave his attention to a fruit farm about one mile out of Boulder. He also conducted a small fruit farm of ten acres at the corner of Third avenue and Fifteenth street.

On the 28th of January, 1869, Mr. Voegtle was married to Miss Johanna Weisen- horn, a native of Germany and a daughter of Silas and Barbara (Zaehringer) Weisen- horn, who came from Germany in 1857 and settled in Quincy, Illinois, where Mr. and Mrs. Voegtle were married. She is still living in Boulder with her daughters, Barbara Frances and Mrs. John Reinert. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Voegtle were as fol- lows: August Anton, who passed away in 1911 at the age of forty-one; Barbara Fran- ces, residing with her mother; Charles Joseph, of Nashville, Tennessee, who married Ivy Montgomery, by whom he has a daughter, Ivy; and Emma Caroline, who wedded Francis John Reinert, of Boulder, and has four children, Paul, Carl, Francis J. and George.

Mr. Voegtle was a German Catholic in religious faith. He took much interest in his home and little fruit farm and cared nothing for political activity. He acquired considerable wealth as the years passed and his business affairs were carefully con- ducted. In 1911 he built the Voegtle block in Boulder, which is one of the handsomest office buildings of the city.

ARTHUR PONSFORD.

Arthur Ponsford is actively engaged in the practice of law as senior partner in the firm of Ponsford & Carnine of Denver. He was admitted to the bar in 1895 and the following year entered upon the active work of the profession, in which he has since successfully continued. A native of England, he was horn at Netley, Southampton, on the 24th of April, 1870, a son of the Rev. William and Susan Dora ( Ruddach) Ponsford, the former a native of Netley, Southampton, while the latter was born in Scotland. The father became a clergyman of the Church of England and devoted his life to that holy calling, passing away in 1900. His wife is also deceased. In their family were seven children.

Arthur Ponsford, whose name introduces this review, pursued his education in private schools of Thorpe Mandeville, Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. Crossing the Atlantic, he spent several years in Canada and in 1887 came to the United States. In 1889 he made his way westward to Denver and ultimately deciding upon the practice of law as a life work, began preparation for the profession. He was admitted to the bar of Colorado in 1895 and the following year entered upon the active practice of law in Denver, forming a connection with Stuart D. Walling, who was afterward a judge of the court of appeals. That association continued for five years, at the end of which time Mr. Ponsford was alone in practice until 1905, when he became a member of the firm of Hersey & Ponsford. He practiced in that connection for two years and was then again alone until 1917, when he was joined hy Charles F. Carnine in the organiza- tion of the present firm of Ponsford & Carnine, which has since continuously existed.

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They make a specialty of banking law and Mr. Ponsford acts as counsel for various banks and corporations. He is thoroughly informed concerning this branch of jurisprudence and his ability is pronounced. He belongs to the Denver, the Colorado State and the American Bar Associations and thus keeps in touch with the active work of the pro- fession, with the high ideals for which it stands and with the purposes which it wishes to accomplish. He has always been a close and discriminating student of law, is strong in the presentation to a cause before the court, is logical in argument, clear in reasoning and is considered a safe and wise counselor. For twenty years he has been counsel for the Denver National Bank and also for the Denver Stock Yards Bank and various other important financial institutions. He turns from heavy professional cares and responsi- bilities to the pleasure and recreation which he gets in farm life. He is much interested in Holstein cattle and has a fine herd upon his farm at Willow Springs, near Mount Morrison, Colorado.

On the 7th of May, 1897. Mr. Ponsford was married to Miss Julia Emily Houghton, a sister of Rev. Dr. John Henry Houghton, a very prominent and honored resident of Denver, who passed away in December, 1917. He was the rector of St. Mark's Episcopal church and was greatly beloved by his people. To Mr. and Mrs. Ponsford have been born two children: Dorothy Muriel, who was born January 6, 1900, and isnow attending the Wolcott School in Denver; and Barbara, who was born November 19, 1907, and is a pupil in Washington, D. C.

Mr. Ponsford's social nature finds expression in his membership in the Denver Athletic Club and the Lakewood Country Club. Fraternally he is a Mason, having membership in Albert Pike Lodge, No. 117, of Denver, of which he is a past master, and he also belongs to Colorado Consistory, No. 1, A. & A. S. R., having thus attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He has likewise crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, belonging to El Jebel Temple. In politics he is an independent republican, for while he usually votes for the men and measures of the party, he does not consider himself bound by party ties. He is a very active and interested member of St. Mark's Episcopal church, in which he is serving as a ves- tryman, and he is also a trustee of the diocese of Colorado. He does all in his power to advance the interests and promote the work of the church and stands loyally in support of all these forces which are of cultural value and which promote the uplift of the individual or advance the welfare of the community at large. He holds to high profes- sional standards in the practice of law and few men are as careful to conform their practice to the advanced ethics of the profession as is Arthur Ponsford.

ARTHUR W. FITZGERALD.

Arthur W. Fitzgerald, who for eight years has been a representative of the Colorado bar, practicing at Boulder, is now a member of the firm of Tedrow & Fitzgerald, which is accorded rank among the leading law firms of their section of the state. Mr. Fitz- gerald is a native of New York, his birth having occurred in Lorraine, Jefferson county, in 1879. His paternal grandfather, Joseph Fitzgerald, was born in Ireland and came to America with his brothers in early manhood, settling first in New York city. He afterward removed to Jefferson county, New York, where the family home was long maintained. In response to the call of his adopted country for aid in the Mexican war he donned the nation's uniform and went to defense of American interests on the southern border. His son, Frank Fitzgerald, is a native of Jefferson county, New York, born in the year 1852. There he spent the period of his boyhood and youth and after reaching man's estate wedded Drucilla Fisher. He has always remained a resident of the Empire state and now lives in Orwell, New York, where his wife passed away in 1911.

The removal to Orwell was made during the very early childhood of Arthur W. Fitzgerald, who there spent the first twenty years of bis life and acquired much of his early education, although his high school course was pursued at Pulaski, New York, where he was graduated with the class of 1897. He afterward entered the State University of Indiana at Bloomington, where he pursued his more specifically literary course, winning the Bachelor of Arts degree as an alumnus of 1904. He then took up the profession of teaching, becoming principal of the high school at Gosport, Indiana. He next went to the south and spent two years in teaching at Cuero, Texas, and on the expiration of that period was chosen principal of the high school at Ennis, Texas, of which he had charge for a year. At the end of that time he came to Boulder and entered the law school of the Colorado State University,

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for he had determined to make the practice of law his life work. He completed his course by graduation with the class of 1910, at which time the LL. B. degree was conferred upon him. He at once entered upon the active work of the profession in the office of Richard H. Whiteley, now deceased, and in January, 1912, he be- came associated with Harry B. Tedrow, who in 1914 was called to the office of United States district attorney. The partnership relation, however, continues and the firm of Tedrow & Fitzgerald occupies a prominent position at the Boulder bar.

On the 16th of August, 1914, in Boulder, Mr. Fitzgerald was united in marriage to Mrs. Elizabeth (Turrell) Andrew, a daughter of the late J. W. Turrell, who was a pioneer druggist of Longmont, Boulder county, Colorado. Mr. Fitzgerald is an Episco- palian in religious faith. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, and while he is greatly interested in the vital questions and issues of the day and keeps well informed on all important political matters, he does not seek nor desire office. His military record covers service with a cavalry company of the Colorado National Guard. He is now concentrating his undivided interest and attention upon his professional duties and his devotion to his clients' interests is proverbial. He has the faculty of presenting most clearly and forcefully a truth which he wishes to impress upon the minds of his hearers and his oratory, clothing sound logic, carries conviction and merit has enabled him to mount the ladder of fame.

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History of Colorado; Volume IV, Part 36

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Number of Pages: 836

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 836